Dark Tales of Mobius
by Coopland
Summary: The World of Mobius, a planet ruled by an unseen Emperor, where a group of Freedom Fighters led by the true heir to the throne are about to meet their most important member. A reimagining of a story I wrote that I was never quite happy with.
1. Genesis: Act I

DARK TALES OF MOBIUS:

GENESIS

By Coopland

Based on the Video Game 'Sonic The Hedgehog' by Sonic Team, published by Sega. All characters in this story are taken from officially licensed Sonic material and are without permission. This story is a fan work for non-profit distribution.

Sirens blasted from the speakers of the automated patrol cars, shooting through the streets of the once grand Clock Work Zone, which had become nothing more then Scrap. Sonic The Hedgehog had no idea how the Zone had become what it had become - a broken run down mess of neglected tarmac and crumbling stone, almost always overcast by a cloud of smog, it'd been this way since before he was born but since he was abandoned, he couldn't ask his parents to find out how it had happened and no one on the streets cared about such things. The Zone was little more then Scrap now.

No, Sonic had no idea how the Zone had come to be what it had become and he didn't care all that much either. All that mattered to the blue Hedgehog was the race.

Slamming his right foot down on his board and twisting it right slightly to open up the air-intake valve, he reached out a gloved paw for a crooked lamppost and let the momentum swing him around the corner, reaching with his free hand to grab the bottom of his board. The patrol cars being little more then semi-aware drones had not been prepared for such a move and continued to hurtle down the street scanning for their now missing target. Though the manoeuvre had freed him from his pursuers, it had taken him off course in the race and cost him first place. Fortunately the Hedgehog knew these streets better then the back of his own paw. With a quick right down a back alley and another right onto the street Sonic found himself almost back on course, all he needed to do was take left at the 'abandoned' coffee shop, _The Groovy Train _which would take him towards _The Outland War Memorial_ where he'd make a right after that he'd been on course for final straight. Sonic grinned a little, he could still win this! Hell, this detour may have actually saved him some time. Thank god these street racers only had one rule: Ex-Gear only; other than that anything went.

Catching up with his main competition in the race, The Babylon Rogues the Hedgehog closed the air-intake value completely for a couple of seconds before snapping it open sharply, the sudden rush of air running through the board's engine gave a much needed extra boost and sent Sonic zooming past the feathered trio, giving a mocking salute which was returned with a similar but much ruder gesture.

"Hope you like the taste of my dust, Jetlag!" Called Sonic as he neared the finish line,

"%&# you Hedgehog!" Came the reply from the leader, a Hawk named Jet, "I'll ^$*#&$ kill you!"

The grin on the teenage Hedgehog widened, he was going to win! That prize money was his, he'd finally beat these losers. The Rogues claimed to be descended from a legendary band of warriors, but they were nothing more than talk and bluster, that bear with the red hat and bad attitude was just a thug and then there was that mongoose with the shades who thought he was some kind of superstar, they'd all beat him, before. Breaking his bones and beating him within an inch of his life to do so but finally he'd won without having to resort to their level, without using dirty trick or underhanded manoeuvres, Sonic had beat them with nothing but skill and speed!

Speed was the key. Sonic had always known that and being fast on his feet came natural to the Hedgehog, moving at super speeds had earned Sonic the only name he'd ever had and he'd been determined to prove that he was the fastest thing alive; on foot or otherwise, now he finally had!

Then he saw it and his face fell, the end had been in sight! He'd been so close!

The Patrol Cars he'd narrowly avoided earlier turned the corner and blocked the Hedgehog's view of his goal, tearing towards him.

With a twist of the foot Sonic tried a one-eighty only to be met with a clothesline from the brute of the Rogues, a brutish Albatross named Storm. Sonic's lower body continued to move with his board briefly before the Ex-Gear zipped off leaving the Hedgehog tumbling rapidly through the air towards cold unfeeling concrete.

"Frane, Frane, Frane, Frane, Frane, Frane, FRAAAAAAANE!" Cried the Hedgehog even as he instinctively began to curl up, until he was an almost perfect ball of spikes. Hitting the ground much harder than he'd thought and even through his spiney protection Sonic felt his bones shatter and he began tumbling down the street, leaving him a bloody, broken mess. Due to his landing Sonic's left arm had been completely shattered and his chest was scrapped raw, tiny cuts and bruises covered his body, skin from his right leg hung, barely attached and the world began to go black.

As the darkness grew and the world faded Sonic saw Jet smirking, giving the same mocking salute Sonic had given him before powering up his gear and riding away, everything began to dim and the last sound Sonic heard was the lifeless robotic voice stating:

"Criminal to be taken for processing..."

And then, the world went black.

The Star Light Zone was the nickname of the outskirts of the Scrap Brain control centre of the Emperor's operations formerly known as The Clock Work Zone. It was a name Bunnie Rabbit found completely inappropriate, Star Light had an almost romantic sound to it and to be sure, the view of the night sky was beautiful, the thick clouds of smog rarely made it this far out and the sky was so clear that the stars shone like diamonds, but that didn't change the fact that the place was a death-trap. The Emperor's robots were out in force in this area as both construction workers for his Criminal Conversions Units and as guards against would be saboteurs. Saboteurs like the southern Bunnie and her friends.

Glancing around the corner of their cover, Bunnie's grey eyes carefully scanned the area before turning to her fellows.

"Okay Hon-Bun," Her thick Hilltop Accent shining through, "Mission briefing."

She pulled down her hood, revealing herself to be light brown furred and underneath her cloak was a shapely figure, curves in all the right places concealed beneath a brown leather jacket, pink top and tight hip-hugging jeans. The 'Hon-Bun' she was referring herself pulled his own hood back and rolled his eyes,a grey furred rabbit by the name of Johnny Lightfoot. Johnny was lean, not overly muscular but streamlined and powerful. His jacket was red, he wore a white shirt and loose fitting jeans with a chain clipped to them.

"Don't call me that, Bunnie," The rabbit chided, though his tone was good natured, "Not while we're on a mission at least. Okay team, as you know The Emperor is building a huge CCU right here that; according to intel uses a new technique that bonds the cybernetic systems directly into the hosts nervous systems and fuses the casing directly to the flesh."

"What does that mean?" Asked Ray

Ray was a young squirrel only twelve years old and was dressed much like Johnny, except he was wearing a black shirt and jeans, though he did copy the rabbit's chain. The way he wore them it was obvious he was trying to emulate the rabbit, whom looked seriously at his young friend.

"It means unlike now, when we can just smash them free, any Mobians 'processed' here would be stuck permanently as a 'Nik because breaking the casing would kill them." Ray quickly went silent, colour draining from his cheeks, making his deep yellow fur appear a sickly pale shade but Johnny continued with the mission briefing. Ray had begged to be treated as an actual freedom fighter and after proving himself on several smaller missions, he'd finally been sent along on a major one. Johnny knew how much this meant to him and so continued, treating him like a kid would only fire up his short fuse.

"Ray and I are to distract the guards and create a diversion by planting these bombs." He held one up, it was almost cartoonish a perfect sphere with a fuse sticking out, "We don't have explosives powerful enough to destroy this whole complex but that's okay. This is where Bunnie and Porker come in."

Bunnie nodded,

"Right you are Johnny," She stated, "While you two have fun blowing The Emperor's toys to Dranaus' Kingdom, I'm stuck playing bodyguard to Porker while he hacks into the doo-dah and uploads his whatsit."

Porker sighed at the Rabbit's lack of elegance in his quite frankly brilliant piece of computer-hacking genius and ingenuity.

"It's your job," The Pig stated wearily, "To watch my back while I upload this supervirus onto the complex's mainframe. Even though the main conversion unit isn't up and running yet, we know some smaller units are."

Ray gulped nervously,

"Don't worry, Short stuff." Bunnie told him, ruffling the fur on top of his head, "The smaller units still use the old technique so if you get trapped you can still be busted out."

Porker continued on,

"The smaller units being active means the systems main computer will already be active too. By installing my virus onto the computer, it'll make the entire complex unusable meaning construction will have to start from scratch."

"And seeing as The Emperor doesn't tolerate failure, he'll probably just leave it unfinished instead." Johnny finished.

"Okay Ray, let's move. Bunnie, Porker wait for the first explosion before moving out to find the computer room."

"Y'know," Said Ray, "For some reason hearing that really bugs me."

"C'mon, let's move." Was Johnny's reply.

The two broke cover and Johnny glanced back at Bunnie, who winked at him. Despite the affection, Johnny couldn't manage a smile, he had an awful feeling about this mission.

Sonic woke up, which was something he hadn't been expecting, still himself and much to his surprise almost completely healed. He still ached somewhat, but his arm wasn't broken and his leg no longer looked like it was about to fall off of his body so considering the state he'd been in, he'd take the aching. It just meant he was alive.

"Ugh," He groaned, "Gonna kill those Rogues when I get outta here."

"Holy crap," A voice came from outside his cell, "Even after they patched you up, never expected you to wake up."

Sonic stood from the lumpy, decades old mattress on the floor he'd be lying on and hobbled over to his cell door, peering out the tiny window. Outside his cell was a long dank corridor which consisted of little more then cold steel and rows of cells down either wall, the only form of decoration was the flickering lights and a number plate next to the door of each cell. The voice had apparently come from nowhere, until in the adjacent cell a weasel came into view. He was a sort of purplish-pinky colour that Sonic didn't know the name of, he assumed there was one but art wasn't really a major concern growing up on the streets. The Weasel closed one eye and pretended to shoot him with his finger.

"Whoever those Rogue's are the busted you up but good." He said though there was a distinct lack of concern in his voice.

"Who are you?" Sonic asked, leaning on the door to steady himself, "Where are we?"

"Name's Fang," Replied the weasel, letting his arm hand lazily through the bars, "D's Kingdom if I know. We're at one of The Big Guy's CCU Plants, but this one looks new. Hope you're enjoying your last days of free will kid."

"Sonic," Replied The Hedgehog, "My name is Sonic."

"Big whoop, don't care." Said Fang, "Unless you've got a plan to bust out of here, your name don't matter much."

"And yours does?" Scoffed the street kid.

"Course it does, _Fang The Sniper_ is infamous, no one gives a rat's ass about a blue Hedgehog named Speedy."

"Sonic."

"Whatever. Better get comfy kid, we ain't goin' nowhere."

Then suddenly, the ground shook.

"BOMBERS!" Cried Ray as he and Johnny turned a corner and straight into the path of some oversized mechanical wasps, dubbed Buzz Bombers or Buzz Kills. The young Flying Squirrel fell to the floor as his rabbit companion leapt into the air and reached behind his back, grabbing his extendible bo-staff and using it to smash the robot to the ground.

"_Ray!_" Snapped Johnny, "Use your clickers!"

Fumbling into the pouch on the side of his belt, Ray produced three circular disks with a blue core and threw them at the Bombers. Two of the disks found their targets but the third missed flying through the air and hitting a girder. The ones that hit the Bombers started clicking steadily before the core lit up and sent a surge of electricity through the cybernetics causing the 'Niks to drop out of the sky.

"Way too much security," Mused Johnny as he, planted his staff into the ground and used it deliver a double kick to a newly arrived SWAT Trooper. The SWAT Troopers were the Emperor's elite guard and were never seen The Emperor wanted them to be seen, Their red plated armour and the skull shaped design of their heads, were used to intimidate. To let you know just what you were in for, they were never used for just construction security. They were used to send a message.

"Oh Frane!" Cursed The Rabbit, "This is a trap, we've been set up!"

Johnny put away his staff and ran towards Ray, grabbing the rookie by his wrist and pulling him to his feet, dragging him along. Ray had never faced SWAT Troopers before, he had no idea how tough they were but Johnny had. Long ago back in the Green Hill Zone an armadillo, half starved and badly injured had collapsed in the Zone Square, the mark on his fur indicated he was an outlaw, a freedom fighter. No one in the zone was a fan of The Emperor, in fact even back then Johnny had been sure that no one _at all_ was a fan of the Emperor but the Zone was the closest thing to freedom there was and the Zoners were unwilling to help. The Armadillo had begged them but instead the Zoners had turned on him, reporting him to The Emperor expecting a troop of 'Niks to come and arrest him. Instead the SWAT had arrived, there'd only been five of them. They killed the resistance fighter then raised the entire Zone to the ground, Johnny and his family had been lucky to escape, many of his friends hadn't. Up until that point Johnny had known the Emperor wasn't a nice person but at seven years old he'd found out just how ruthless and evil he truly was. Green Hill had suffered on the slim chance, the minute possibility that someone in the Zone had been an allies with the Armadillo. Sure, at first Johnny had blamed the Armadillo but he _had_ try to warn them, tried to tell them that nothing good would come from turning him in. Johnny wished the Zoners had listened.

The pair of freedom fighters ducked into a doorway but Johnny knew that the Troopers would be smart enough to check it, checking his pack he noticed he only had two explosives that were any good, the rest were duds. Swearing under his breath, he realised that meant this wasn't just bad intel, there was a traitor in the Resistance.

"We're trapped in here!" Cried Ray, as he stared down the long dank corridor.

"Maybe not," The elder fighter thought outloud, "We've only got two bombs left but I can rig one to blow when this door is opened and we can blast the wall at the other end, find the others and high-tail it outta here."

"Maybe free us prisoners as well!" Called a voice from one of the cells.

"We turn the locks off and every 'Nik in the Zone will be on us." Stated Johnny coldly,

"Every 'Nik in the Zone is already on us!" Snapped Ray with surprising forcefulness, "Johnny these are the people we're fighting for, we can't leave them in here to get converted!"

Johnny but his hand on his head and brushed his ears back, the kid was right. He was just angry, Ray obviously hadn't figured out what he had, he was worried about Porker and Bunnie, especially Bunnie and escaping would be difficult enough without having to escort a hundred prisoners out but the kid was right. They knew the risks involved when signing on as Freedom Fighters, many of the people here hadn't made that choice. He walked over to the main locking mechanism.

"It uses E-Series tech, Ray."

"I can hack that."

"Get to it, we don't have much time. I'll set up the explosives. Okay everyone, we're getting you out of here!"

The Rabbit's voice turned to a whisper.

"Bunnie, please be safe."

"Could you possibly upload your supercold a little faster," Said Bunnie irritably, "A girl gets a might nervous when inside a CCU Plant."

"Super_virus_" Corrected Porker casually, "And this isn't like installing a word processor, the virus is much more complex, it needs time to get to work and we can't leave until it's active. At least while I'm here I can hack The Emperor's files and get us some decent information.

Muttering under her breath, Bunnie kicked the 'eye' of a Crabmeat 'Nik, she'd smashed when they got into the Complex Mainframe Unit and started pacing. The girl had never been very good at waiting.

"Is it done yet?" She asked.

"Eighty Percent, almost there." Porker stated, trying to ignore her as she marched up and down. Then went back to hacking the mainframe's encrypted files. He'd found new Cybernik conversion technology blueprints, the process of fusing the inorganic components with the organic battery, information on new Tekniks weapons systems and designs but just as they virus finished uploading and he was about to leave, the brown eyed pig caught sight of a folder marked 'Operation: Star Light"

"Oh, Telas no," Whispered the tech-savy pig. "No, no no!"

"What now?" Snapped Bunnie, "Please tell me that your stupid virus hasn't broken!"

"Bunnie this is a set up!" Cried the Pig, "This facility was never going to be activated, it's a trap for us!"

Bunnie turned sharply to look at him and saw the unabashed panic on the pig's face.

"Th-This whole area is r-rigged to blow, take us and the pris-prisoners lock up here with it." Porker stammered, "Then they're going to spuh-spin it as a sabotage attempt gone wrong. Say we were killed in our own explosion."

"Making us look like idiots and murders and helping The Emperor's image at the same time." Muttered the female rabbit, "Don't stand around jabbering about it Porker, let's book!"

Unravelling her whip, Bunnie booted down the door and lead Porker back the way they'd come in, only to find a squad of SWATS waiting for them. With a crack of her whip a support beam came down and blocked the Troopers off but also stopped them from reaching the exit.

"Not that way sugar!" Bunnie yelped and span, taking off down another corridor, Porker Lewis trying to run and read schematics at the same time to find them another exit. He didn't know how much time they had before the detonation was to occur but he'd but a hundred rings on it that they had twenty minutes tops. Twenty minutes was when they were originally due to arrive, but due to an earlier mission in Labyrinth Zone failing, The Princess had decided that they should at least try to salvage something from it and use it as a diversion, with The Emperor's finest looking into the sabotage at Labryrinth Zone security was supposed to have been lighter here. Odd as it may sound, Porker realised that The Emperor may have unintentionally saved their lives.

"How in Frane's name did they even know we were comin'?"

_A traitor..._

A regular grey swatbot was waiting for them down a dead end and they were just about to turn back to find another route when suddenly an idea gripped Bunnie's mind, with a snap of her whip she latched into a barred window and even as the bot turned to find the cause of the whip she wrapped the other end around it's neck, then slid in front of the bemuzed trooper and delivered a shoulder barge to it's chest, sending it tumbling backwards and crumbling the wall. The only downside was it had cost her the whip, but she'd settle for getting out alive and in one piece.

The two made a bolt for the rondevu point, Porker taking the lead while Bunnie fought to keep the Tekniks off their backs.

"We're nearly out!" Cried Porker with joy and Bunnie could feel herself relaxing a little.

It all happened at once, from behind a corner a Slicer appeared, slicers were Tekniks designed to look like over-sized Praying Mantis and were armed with two elongated and absurdly sharp blades, Porker tried to stop but had gained to much momentum as he head towards the already swinging sword. Bunnie leapt forward trying to reach the unfortunate pig and there was the sound of flesh being torn by steel. It took both Porker and Bunnie a moment to realise what had happened before the victim let out a cry of shock, fear and pain.

The cell block wall exploded outward and a hundred former prisoners ran for freedom, Johnny and Ray tried to keep them under control but they were panicked, running on adrenaline most of them just left and didn't look back but a few of them stayed.

One of the prisoners, a weasel in a cowboy hat took the plasma pistol of the swatbot who'd been unfortunate enough to get caught in the explosion and twirled it.

"It may not be a six shooter but Fang The Sniper is back in business." He stated then blasted a 'Nik that was coming their way just to demonstrate his point.

Johnny simply ignored the showboating and turned to a Hedgehog who was stretching his legs out, whincing while doing so.

"You okay?" He asked,

"I'll be okay, gonna hurt like D's Kingdom to run but I can do it. Just not top speed." The Blue Hedgehog replied, "Thanks for busting us all out."

"Don't mention it," The Rabbit said with a slight grin.

The group broke into a jog and Johnny couldn't help but be impressed by the Hedgehog's determination, he was clearly in pain but he continued to keep pace, The weasel and Ray were lagging a little, with the sharpshooter blasting any troopers coming their way and Ray dishing out clickers.

"You spend too long aiming kid," Stated Fang casually as he blasted another one, "Especially with those things, just throw them, you spend too much time aiming and they see it coming."

Ray tried the Weasel's method, but still missed his target anyway, he hit the trooper behind him, but purely by luck. Coming up fast behind them were troopers on Ex-Gear bikes, using the bike mounted guns to take shots at the escaping rebels, without transportation the group would be caught for sure but Fang had a plan he always had a plan.

"Hang tight kid," He said and pushed himself harder running as fast as he could, up ahead was an emergency lock down shutter, he could blast the control lever and reach the gate before it closed by the bots would have already reached him by then he had to by himself some time. Jumping and twisting in mid-air the Weasel took a shot and hit his target square in chest, the plasma pistol wasn't fatal to organics as they were needed in one piece to power the Emperor's robots but it hurt like hell and would stop anyone in their tracks. A wicked grin came over Fang's face as Ray went tumbling to the ground, clutching the burn mark a look of fear and confusion on his face. Fang winked and 'shot him' with his fingers before carrying on, shooting the locking mechanism and causing the gate to begin closing.

"Johnny, help!"

Lightfoot came to a stop and span around, The Hedgehog stopping an instant after, the pair looked in horror as they saw the Ex-Bikes stop and the troopers get off, reaching out to grab the Rabbit's young friend.

"RAY!" Cried Johnny, though before he could move to get him, The Hedgehog shot off towards the steadily closing shutter. Johnny couldn't believe how fast the Hedgehog moved and he was gaining speed rapidly, pushing past his pain in an effort to reach the fallen Squirrel. Ray's hand stretched out towards him and the shutter closed. Sonic ran into it, his hands pressing up against it.

"NO, NO, NO!" Shouted the Hedgehog, pounding his paw against the shutter, "Shoulda been faster. I _am_ faster." His legs buckled under from the strain he'd put them under and he slid down the metal, though it felt more like his heart was dragging him down.

"Shoulda been faster..." He repeated.

"YOU!" Snarled Johnny turning around to confront the one responsible but he was nowhere to be seen, Fang the Sniper had gone. "C'mon we'll double back and rescue him."

"JOHNNY!" Called a voice from up ahead, "We have to leave, now! This entire complex is going to blow!"

"We can't, Ray's been caught!" Johnny shouted, then seeing the state of his companion his face recoiled in horror, "Oh Frane, what happened?"

"There's no time, we need to leave. NOW!"

Johnny clenched his eyes shut and bit his lip, then exhaled deeply and grabbed the Hedgehog, pulling him up.

"Time to leave."

"But your friend!" The Hedgehog protested, he looked horrified.

"He knew the risks, we have to go." Johnny's voice was weak, he didn't believe what he was saying but this mission had cost them too much already. As the weary group left Johnny's mind raced. Who'd betrayed them? The Weasel had shot Ray and left him there. If the entire place was rigged to blow, why give them dud bombs? The Weasel had shot Ray and left him there! What had happened to Porker and Bunnie to have one of them come back in that state? The Weasel had shot Ray and left him there! Johnny knew what he was going to do, he was going to hunt down the traitor and make them pay, he was going to find that Frane forsaken weasel and make him pay and he was going to overthrow The Emperor and yes, he would make him pay.

He owed that much to Ray.

To Be Continued.


	2. Genesis: Act II

GENESIS

Act II

"We're nearly out!" Cried Porker, never had he been so glad to get anywhere but had been a set up and strangely enough, that made him somewhat jittery but the evac-point was in sight and soon they'd be on their way home again. Granted once they were home they had to deal with the fact that this was a trap and there had been a traitor in their midst to send them into this nightmare, but all of that could wait until they were away from the vast complex that was about to be blown sky-high in an attempt to incinerate them.

By the time Porker had spotted it, it was too late. The slicer stepped out to his side, it's scythe like blade coming down towards him and oddly, Porker felt strangely calm about the whole thing. It was like an out of body experience, he could see the blade coming down towards him, he could see himself close his eyes and raise his arms in a futile attempt at protection, fear gripping him. But it was like someone else's fear, he felt resigned to the fact he was about to die as if it was just a reminder of why he normally didn't do fieldwork. All this made the sudden force pushing him out of the way even more unexpected, suddenly he was back in his own body own body tumbling forward the sound of steel cutting through muscle and bone filled his ears but he felt fine, there was no pain, no lack of feeling just a slight ache from the fall. Turning around he spotted Bunnie lying on the floor and his brain struggled to catch up with his eye sight. It took him a minute to realise she _stopped _just below her torso, that her legs had been cleanly severed from her body, she looked up at him weakly and then...

...And then she woke up, sweating hard and breathing heavy. For a minute the whole thing had seemed like an awful dream, a nightmare but then she'd look down and see two small stumps where her legs used to be. She had lost her legs and Ray... poor Ray. He'd been so young, so eager to do his bit to help and his first real mission had turned out to be his last. The way Bunnie had heard it, one of the prisoners had shot him to cover their own escape, essentially using him as bait to escape the bots. Another prisoner, a teenage Hedgehog named Sonic had gone back to try and help him, but hadn't been quick enough. Sonic hadn't forgiven himself for that and Johnny, who'd always seen Ray as a younger brother had become dark and sullen. They freedom fighter found out only a few days later that most of the escaping prisoners had either perished in the blast or been recaptured.

Bunnie sobbed into her hands, so many lives lost. Ray was dead and without her legs she couldn't even help her love avenge the loss of the kid he'd swore to protect. She couldn't even protect Johnny from himself and almost as bad as that she didn't recognise herself when she looked in the mirror. It wasn't just the fact her legs were gone, replaced by two bandaged up stumps, no it wasn't just that. She'd always considered herself to be strong, a sassy and independent young rabbit with an upbeat attitude. But now she wasn't fit for fieldwork any more so her life didn't seem to have much meaning. She was no good with computers or machines, so hacking or creating weaponry was out of the question. She supposed she could work as a mission co-ordinator but she felt robbed. Her place had been on the field, living close to the edge... she just never thought that she'd fall from the edge.

There was a light tap on the door and the blue hedgehog they'd rescued walked in, he'd received some new clothes, a pair of jeans, almost the same shade of blue he was and a bright pair of red trainers, each with a white strap fastened by a golden buckle.

"Hey," He said softly, "Uh, sorry to bother you Bunnie but The Princess has requested your presence, I've been sent to fetch you."

The female Rabbit rubbed her eyes and plastered on a smile.

"Sure thing sugar, let's go."

As Sonic wheeled the rabbit out of her room and into the main area his mouth fell open a little, he still couldn't get used to it, deep beneath the ruins of The Green Hill Zone was a cavern so huge it was practically it's own underground City. They called it Knothole, an artificial zone that was home to the Freedom Fighters to a new observer the place was a mess of wooden gangways and platforms with wooden huts standing on pillars and homes buried into the sides of the wall. Spiralling walkways that went from the top of the cavern to the dirt below. To Sonic this was still unreal, it was so different from The Scrap Brain Zone, which looked like it had just been dropped on to the world, with little thought to design. An unnatural cancer on the planet on which it sat. This place while clearly Mobian made looked like it could have grown from a single seed, it was functional and practical to be sure, but the elegance of it was truly to be marvelled at. In the center of Knothole was a gigantic oak tree, so large that it went all the way down to the bottom and carried on through the ground up into the sunlight, this was the Royal Chamber. This was where they were heading.

"Something I don't understand," Sonic said as he pushed Bunnie along, "All this space, all these empty houses. How come you don't just relocate more people down here?"

"We tried," Bunnie replied, "But lots of people didn't want to leave, to afraid to take the risk and others... others couldn't be trusted. We take in a few each month, so we're slowly filling up, but it's not like we planned."

Sonic didn't ask what that meant, he already knew the situation they were currently in and it didn't take a genius to figure out that The Emperor may have planted spies to try and locate this place. Still here it stood, untouched home to the Royal Acorn Family and true rulers of the Itrac Continent.

The pair finally reached the grand hall, where two thrones sat, only one of which was currently occupied. The Thrones had been carved from wood and weren't as grand as the true throne, but the intricacy of their design, vines curling up towards the royal seal, a winged acorn was still a sight to behold. Sonic noticed that the Pig and the Rabbit from the CCU Plant were also present now and with himself and Bunnie that made everyone in Knothole who'd been there accounted for. Bunnie put her hand over her heart and bowed her head and Sonic followed suit.

Sat on the throne was Princess Sally Acorn, she was slim and slender with a mass of red hair that had been tied back for practicalities sake, her outfit consisted of a pair of royal blue trousers and a matching vest and a white shirt. With a wave of her hand she dismissed her guards and waited for them to leave, once they had gone she stood and walked over to Bunnie, kneeling in front of her.

"I'm sorry I haven't had chance to come and see you," The Princess spoke, "But the doctor's orders were that you needed rest."

Sonic was surprised by the Squirrel's lack of...royal air, she seemed like a regular girl. The rabbit was clearly her friend and the hedgehog became more aware of how he didn't belong here.

Sonic was a city boy, born and raised. Rural zones like this were something that, up until today he'd never really been interested in or thought he'd see. He wasn't really even sure how he'd ended up here. When he'd ran from the exploding CCU, he'd simply followed the others at one point, he'd saved the two rabbits lives by destroying a 'Nik and once the dust had settled, he'd been ready to leave and go home.

But Bunnie had been badly injured and he couldn't leave her to die, even with the pain he was suffering, Sonic knew he was the fastest one amongst them and he couldn't just leave her to die. Not after her friends had gotten him free, not after they'd sacrificed so much already. And so had gotten her to a medic and unlicensed – no questions asked kind of medic, but someone with more medical knowledge then any of them, just in time. She lost a lot of blood, but the Doc had managed to patch her up. Sort of.

It had been Porker who'd offered for him to join up with them, Johnny had seemed dead set against it, said they didn't need any more kids dying on their behalf. Kids, like he was a grown up. Johnny was only two years older than Sonic tops.

He'd been ready to say no, to go back to his life on the street and just walk away from it all. But he couldn't, something inside him wouldn't let him. These people were risking their lives without thanks, fighting for a better tomorrow not just for themselves but for everyone. And growing up in Scrap Brain, spending his whole life seeing first hand just what the world truly was Sonic asked himself how he could do anything less. He'd shaken the pig's trotter and here he was.

"Thanks Sal," Bunnie's voice snapped him from his memory, "I'm guessin' that since it's us that's here right now, you want to talk to us about what Porker uncovered.

"Right." Said the princess as she turned and walked back towards the throne but remained standing, "There's a traitor in Knothole, one of our friends is a turncoat. I've ruled you four out for obvious reasons, but until we can find out who the traitor is, no one outside of this room can be trusted. I'll need you four to look out for signs of suspicious activity if you're up to it."

She turned back to face them, her face serious. "But I'm giving you all chance to turn away. Bunnie, this cause has cost you your legs, you've done more than enough for us. Feel free to stay here but you don't have to do any more."

"I don't know how much use I'll be, Your Highness," Bunnie admitted, "But I'll do whatever I can."

"Jonathan... Johnny," The Princess' voice soften slightly, "I know how close you were to Ray, if you no longer feel you can trust my leadership... I understand."

The two stared for a moment before Johnny turned his head, glancing at her sideways.

"I'm staying." He said after a moment of silence, Bunnie reached her hand for his and clasped it gently, the hard look on his face turning to one of despair. Bunnie offered him a comforting smile, one which he barely managed to return.

"Porker you uncovered a great deal of information during that last mission and it's vital that it gets decoded but if you desire I'll hand that work over to someone else. Given the current situation, I hope you'll stay."

"Of course, Your Highness," Porker said, "I'm more comfortable in a lab anyway at least this way I know I'm doing some good."

The Princess stepped forward towards Sonic and he felt himself stand a little straighter.

"And you, Master Sonic," Sally spoke, "You're not one of us at least, not yet. So I'm giving you this chance to leave. None of us will hold any ill will towards you if you decided to go but I hereby extend an invitation in the name of my father, King Maximilian to join us in our fight against the false Emperor."

Sonic was suddenly very aware that all eyes were now on himself and he glanced nervously and he took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

"You know," He started uncertainly, "It was... what, less than a month ago? Less then a month ago that I was living day by day, fighting for my own survival. Making money off Ex-Gear racing or thieving, on the streets of Scrap Brain that's how it is. Look out for number one."

The Hedgehog paused to regain his composure,

"And then I got caught and I met you guys. These three here busted me out of the plant and for the first time I realised there was a world outside the streets. A world that needs help and you guys are there helping it. Fighting for those who were like me, who can't see past their own world and who are miserable trapped in it and I started thinking, maybe surviving isn't enough. Maybe you've got to stand for something, maybe it's time I put my speed to good use."

Sally smiled, "So you'll join us?"

"Yeah," Sonic said with a determined nod, "I'd be honoured to join the fight."

"Good speech," Sally told him, "Just a tad dramatic though. We're glad to have you Sonic The Hedgehog"

Sonic grinned, she was riling him to make him feel welcome. He reached for her extended hand and grasped it, then realised she was handing him something.

"Because of your quills, you'd just shred a jacket," Sally explained, "So instead, this is your mark."

In Sonic's hand was an armband with the Acorn symbol on it.

"W.P.C." He stated, the others just gave him blank looks.

"I'm sorry?" The squirrel asked.

"Way Past Cool."

* * *

><p>The Marble Zone was all that remained on the continent of a mysterious and advanced civilisation from long ago. Though now crumbling and nowhere impressive as it once must have been the Zone was still beautiful, if now somewhat deadly. Grand architecture concealed crumbling pathways above streams of lava, gargoyles that shot balls of fire and crushing spikes could fall from above. Beautiful though the zone was, it concealed a vicious heart.<p>

Sonic and Johnny had been sent out after Porker Lewis had managed to open one of the encrypted files he'd downloaded at the CCU. It'd contained information on something called Project Chaos. Project Chaos had mentioned a mysterious recurring phenomenon that had been documented at different locations all across the globe, though it hadn't described what the event was, the Emperor's forces had been keen to document it, the document refer to an ancient civilisation that grew so powerful they could raise their home into the heavens. Obviously the Emperor wanted such power for himself no matter how floral the documentation may or may not have been and he couldn't be allowed to obtain it, the fight to over throw him was hard enough if he were to get his hand on the power of the legends it might make him unbeatable. So Princess Sally had Johnny and Sonic sent out to scout the next area where the odd occurrence was due to appear, the data file had listen sighting, allowing Porker to discover a pattern and according to that pattern it was going to appear here in the Marble Zone.

"Porker shoulda come," Said Sonic as he idly ran a hand across one of the murals, "He'd be able to make sense of all this ancient gibberish."

"Porker's needed back home," Snapped the Rabbit, causing Sonic to jump, "The fewer people sent out on field work, the better. I should've come alone."

Sonic cast a downward glance and sighed,

"Johhny, what happened back in Star Light I..."

"Save your breath, Hedgehog," Johnny interrupted storming ahead, "I don't want to hear it."

The speedster snapped, _no one_ talked to him like that, like he was trash. He wasn't going to let Johnny hang this over his head any longer, he hadn't been fast enough to save Ray but that wasn't his fault. He'd be injured! He'd tried his best, for Frane's sake! Cracking his fingers Sonic marched after his team mate, not noticing the paving beneath him crack too.

"Now you wait just a damned minu-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"What now?" Lightfoot asked angrily, spinning his head around to face the newbie, only the newbie wasn't there. Instead there was a large hole in the ground, which was still slightly crumbling.

"Sonic?" Asked The Rabbit, panic in his voice, "Sonic...? SONNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIC!"

There was nothing but silence and Johnny dropped to his knees, his head hanging low. Not again, it couldn't happen again.

"Ugh... whaddya want?" Echoed a voice from below,

"Sonic?" A cautious hope crept into the word. "That you?"

"Must be," The reply came, "If it wasn't me... I wouldn't be in this much pain."

Johnny let out a laugh partly from the joke, partly from relief.

"Good to hear you, Sonic, now get your ass up here."

"Can't," Replied The Hedgehog, "It's too high up to jump and there's nothing for me to climb up. Keep searching for the doo-hicky. I'll try and find a way out of here."

"No, stay put!" Johnny called, "I'll try and find a way down, okay?"

No response.

"Sonic? Sonic...?" The Rabbit sighed rubbing his brow, "Damn. Stubborn little spike."

A blast from above missed the freedom fighter by less then an inch and Johnny instictively reached back for his bo-staff even as he looked up to see what the threat was, expecting to see a stray Buzz Kill, instead on one of the Emperor's hover platforms was a small platoon of troopers, regular, SWAT and one single golden armoured Trooper that Johnny had never seen the likes of before. It looked more like a SWAT Trooper, rather than the regular bots since it had a skull shaped head rather than a visor but it's armour was more grandiose; the shoulder 'pads' were each adorned with a row of spikes and the Trooper had a long red cloak attached to it. It was also a lot bigger at least another foot tall and with the extra bulk to match. Something told Johnny that this was going to be one helluva fight.

"Oh, scratch," He muttered.

* * *

><p>"Oh, scratch," Muttered Sonic.<p>

The teen hedgehog had come to a lake of fire, the stone bridge to cross it long since crumbled and unusable. What little remained of it was definitely not stable enough to walk on. The Hedgehog couldn't turn back as the only thing behind him was a wall of spikes, some more crumbling paving and the hole he'd fallen in through; glancing around he noticed that above the lava stream were some chandeliers. _Big_ Chandeliers all in a nice row across the firey death, they didn't look very sturdy, but they still looked a damn sight studier than the bridge and Sonic could make it across no trouble if he was fast. And Sonic _was_ fast. Sonic rubbed his hands together as he began to psych himself up, stepping a few paces he took several sharp breathes before dashing forward and leaping in the air. The Hedgehog barely managed to grab the side of the chandelier and swung his legs forward even as the ceiling above him began to crack as the ancient decoration fell towards the lava Sonic let go and landed, balancing precariously on the next one before leaping off, it, kicking it back to gain extra distance in order to reach the third and final makeshift platform. The third one broke apart as soon as he hit it, dropping towards the lava but the Hedgehog wasn't finished yet, In one swift movement, he leapt _through_ the chandelier and grabbed on to it as he passed through, using the momentum to launch himself upwards, landed on top of the the damned thing and kick flipped off of it, landing on to solid ground just as it made contacted with the inferno and began melting into it.

_Too easy, _Sonic thought to himself, dusting his hands off. The Hedgehog was feeling rather smug with himself for such a death-defying feat, but the proud look on his face vanished when he felt the stone beneath him sink and he heard a click, followed by the sound of something from above dropping very fast towards him.

_Like I said, too easy!_ He re-evaluated, Sonic didn't even look up, he didn't want to see what was about to crush him. Sonic just charged forward and hoped that the very solid looking wall was as frail as everything else in this Franeforsaken Zone. As the thing dropping towards him and the wall both got closer Sonic rolled himself up into a ball with the intention of a) smashing through the wall or b) not having to see the thing that killed him and clenched his eyes shut tight bracing for impact.

But the impact never came and Sonic thought he must have smashed through the wall but been running on too much adrenaline to notice, he skidded to a halt and looked around. He'd found himself in a small, narrow corridor, even dustier and unkept then the rest of the Zone had been so far but looked considerably more solid. Glancing behind him, he noticed the wall that he thought he'd crash into was _still there._

"What in the name of Dranaus' Kingdom?" The Hedgehog asked himself, absently running a hand along his quills. Sonic picked up a stone and threw it at the wall experimentally, surprised when it just past through, causing the wall to waver a little then settle. It was an illusion! He played around a little, pelting stones at the wall and watching it wobble when the passed through before growing bored and turning around. He didn't want to risk going back out the way he came, in case he took another wrong step and got squashed or impaled for his troubles. Which meant he was moving forward.

As he stepped forward, panels on the wall began to glow revealing murals, most of the paint had faded leaving only the carvings and having nothing better to do Sonic studied them as he walked every few steps lighting more panels. The murals seemed to tell some kind of story but sonic couldn't figure out what. There were several recurring pictures though, odd looking mobians in tribal clothing each seemed to have it's fur or quills or whatever they were patterned into dreadlocks, there were seven diamond shapes and odd tear drops with circles above their heads kept appearing. Eventually the corridor widened out into a large cube shaped room with no other entrance or exit.

"Great," The Hedgehog grumbled, "So I'm stuck. Can't go back, can't go forward."

As if on cue a giant gold ring, like the ones used for currency but ten times bigger appeared in front of him spinning slowly. Sonic picked up another stone and threw it into the ring, surprised when it vanished.

_An illusion, like the wall._

Seeing no other option, Sonic prayed to Frane and leapt through. Just as he was about to pass through, he caught a glimpse of another mural on the back wall, two vicious looking serpents. One made of water, the other fire, there were two other creatures too but whatever they were would remain a mystery to Sonic as he finished passed through the ring...

And vanished.

* * *

><p>Johnny was beginning to tire, he'd despatched half of the squad himself and the others being made of much heavier stuff then him had each fallen into one of the many traps and pitfalls like Sonic had, But this damn Gold Trooper would not quit, it figured out that the ground was two weak for it to walk on, so instead it remained on the platform which had lowered it's manoeuvrability a little but not by much, the upper level of the Marble Zone was mainly open planes or very fragile ruins and judging from lack of interest it displayed when destroying any potential hiding spots, this robot didn't appreciate history.<p>

Every bone in Johnny's body was telling him to run, to flee to more familiar territory, get the machine twisted around and ditch the damn thing before heading home but he was no going to leave Sonic behind. The Hedgehog was fast and smart to be sure but if this damn contraption managed to murder him because the rabbit had turned tail and ran, Johnny would never forgive himself. He wouldn't desert anyone else, he wouldn't let any one fall behind due to his lack of leadership.

"Why fight it, Rabbit?" Said The Trooper, it's voice seeming to echo from all around. "You can't win, you still think I'm just another trooper. I'm not. The troopers are lifeless guards, following predetermined strategies and tactic. Where as I can think, improvise. I'm just as alive as you are, Rabbit."

That sent a child down Johnny's spine, this trooper was mocking him, using psychological warfare. Johnny had always thought that the Troopers were supposed to inspire fear by being lifeless and cold. Yet having one that talked back was far more terrifying.

"Alive?" Answered Johnny, "You're just another bot of the assemble line. Although I must admit, whoever did your paint job has awful taste. Talk about garish."

"Impudent little mortal," Hissed the droid, "I am Brutus, the most powerful of all my Master's creations! I see that his will is obeyed, I destroy his enemies. I..."

"You talk too much, scrapheap!"

Johnny leapt out from his hiding place, throwing as many clickers as he could, which connected to the droid silently, clicking steadily before releasing an overcharge surge of electricity. Brutus howled in agony as his metal body retched and shook, while it was distracted Johnny leapt forward with his staff, prepared to knock it's ugly head off, yelling mindlessly as he attacked.

But Brutus simply knocked him back, slapping the Rabbit away before ripping the clickers from his chest.

"That. Hurt." The skull faced machine growled.

It marched forward towards the freedom fighter who lay on the ground, curled up and clutching his chest. The droid reached for it's blaster and took aim.

"Rest assured rebel, I'm not going to make you suffer for that. I'm going to kill you quick." Brutus stated coldly, "And you'll die in the knowledge that your fellow rebels will be the ones who suffer for the bother you caused me."

Johnny opened his eyes and looked up at his executioner. So much regret... as a child he'd stood by and let that armadillo be handed over to the Emperor's forces, then be helpless to stop his Zone-Village from being burned to the ground. He'd been unable to stop that weasel from killing Ray, he'd been unable to stop Bunnie from ending up crippled and now...he wasn't even able to save his own life.

Then all of a sudden there was a flash of light.

To be continued.


	3. Genesis: Act III

GENESIS

Act III

Johnny closed his eyes and waited for The MegaTrooper known as Brutus to pull the trigger.

All of a sudden there was a flash of light and a giant gold ring appeared in the sky, Johnny and the robot both stared up at it in confusion, the air in it's centre began to ripple and a blue ball came shooting out of it, shrieking like a banshee.

"What THE?" Roared Brutus in confusion as the blue ball of spikes came crashing down on him, knocking him off his hover platform and on to the ground, causing the stone beneath him to crack. Johnny lay there for a moment, his mind trying to process what had just happened. One minute he'd been about to meet the creator himself then next a portal had opened in the sky and out of it fell...

"Sonic!" The Rabbit called, "You're alive!"

"Must be," The Hedgehog said as he climbed off the unmoving robot, "Otherwise that wouldn't hurt so much."

Johnny chuckled as Sonic held out his hand and produced a deep blue gem that shimmered briefly despite the cloudy weather and lack of sunlight. The rabbit looked at it then at the hedgehog.

"What happened? What's that gem? How did you fall out of the sky?" He asked in a rush as his mouth finally caught up with his brain.

"The answer to all three," Stated Sonic, "is D's Kingdom if I know."

A cold metallic hand reached sharply for Sonic, who moved out of the way just in time. Commander Brutus snarled at the two and put his hands on the floor to push himself off the ground only to feel it crack more beneath him, the two rebels giving each other amused glances as they stepped away from him.

"I'd be careful how you move, buckethead." Said Johnny, "That ground looks awfully unstable and who knows what you might land on down there."

"You little..."

"I know what he might land on," Sonic interrupted, "He could fall on to a spike trap or into a lava flow. Nasty."

"Well be seeing you chump," The Rabbit added with a mock salute and the two turned to leave.

In a wordless roar the droid stood hastily hoping to lunge at them before the ground gave way, but ultimately gravity won and the droid tumbled down into a stream of molten rock. To Sonic's surprise the droid sounded like it was in pain as it hit the surface, sinking down as the flames consumed it. It stretched it's arm upwards, roaring at them with rage and agony.

"Huh, lava flow." Stated Johnny, The Hedgehog besides him nodded.

"Yup," He agreed, "I totally jumped that by the way."

The two walked in silence for a moment heading towards the Zone's edge, before they'd got separated Johnny knew he'd been short tempered and rude, not daring to let the Hedgehog in but when the ground had given way beneath Sonic's feet, Johnny's first reaction had been one of fear. The thought that another may have died under his watch... it wasn't something he wanted to think about even now. Did he still belong with the freedom fighters? Had Ray's loss effected him so much that he was going to cut everyone off to save the pain of losing them? Sonic nudge his companion gently, causing him to snap out of his dreary train of thought.

"Hey," The Hedgehog said softly, "Don't sweat it. I understand."

"Huh?" The Rabbit asked,

"You were thinking about earlier right? I think I understand." Sonic continued, "You're blaming yourself over what happened to your friend Ray but what happened wasn't your fault. If anything it was mine. If I'd been faster then he'd still be here."

"Or you'd be dead along side him..." Johnny replied, "No, you tried. It's not your fault, blame that weasel who slugged him with a plasma blast."

"Good advice, you should take it."

There was a moment silence, before Johnny smiled softly and nodded. Neither of them could see the hand rising from the lava and dragging out the glowing burning form of the MegaTrooper, Brutus. They had assumed the last of him, but Brutus was made of Infintanium, nothing could destroy him. But he could destroy them, the robot silently vowed to do just that, the next time they met.

* * *

><p>Antoine hated being left out of the loop. It didn't happen very often, at least not to his knowledge. Bunnie and Porker would tell him everything, well mainly Porker. He didn't believe in secrets between friends but lately Bunnie hadn't said two words to him, which was understandable considering and Porker was even more jittery than usual. No Antoine didn't like it, it wasn't like The Princess not to tell him what was going on either. Ever since that Blue Hedgehog had arrived things hadn't been the same, too many secrets. It was making the Coyote paranoid, he'd start jumping at shadows before long, not that he didn't do that already as he wandered from his hut to go down to the training room to practice his fencing, he saw that Johnny and the hedgehog had just returned from a mission and that his rival for Bunnie's affections seemed to be caring something. Antoine walked over as casually as he could but the hedgehog spotted him and alerted Johnny who quickly hid whatever he was carrying inside his jeans pocket. The two waved at him and carried on towards the main chamber without even stopping to properly say hello. Well Antoine could only take so much and he damned well was going to take it from Lightfoot and his new sidekick. Marching after them, he suddenly found himself walking straight into a wall of Walrus, which knocked him on to his backside. Rotor.<p>

"Watch we're you're going!" The Coyote proclaimed indignantly

"Whoa easy there little fella," Rotor said putting Antoine back on his feet, "I'm as eager to know what's going on with Johnny and the others as much as you, but for Frane's sake. They're under orders from the Princess. They'll tell us when she's good and ready and not before."

"But-but-but!" Antoine protested feebly,

"No buts. Don't make me knock you back on yours."

Sonic and Johnny for their part continued towards their destination, the royal chamber were the Princess, Porker and Bunnie were waiting for them. The duo reported their separation, Johnny's encounter with the Teknik fleet and the mysterious ring that Sonic had dived into, as well as the apparent MegaTooper that called itself Brutus. The pair revealed the gem stone.

"When I jumped through the ring," Sonic began, "I ended up in this surreal dimension. It was constantly shifting and rotating, There didn't seem to be any walls, but no matter which way I looked there were psychedelic colours and bizarre patterns. Floating in this weird place was this stone, I grabbed it. There was a flash and I suddenly found myself landing on top of a bucket of bolts."

"I thought you landed on the robot," Porker stated, his eyes widened, "Oh right, sorry."

Sally stood from her throne and walked towards the Hedgehog, holding her hand out, the Hedgehog handed over the gem and the Princess held it delicately between her fingers, holding it up to the light. It shimmered briefly one way and then the other, the squirrel squinted slightly as if trying to get a sharper focus on something within the jewel. Inside the stone seemed to be a constantly moving stream of energy. Sally began feeling lightheaded, as if she was drawn inside them gem, it seemed to be calling to her, there was power in this stone. So much power... but the power was incomplete and she realised she had to find the rest of that power. It wasn't calling to her but to itself. It needed to be complete... she needed it to be complete...

"Your Highness?" It was like falling into cold water, she'd been jolted awake and was looking around somewhat bewildered. The others were staring at her, concern on their faces, she stared back a moment confused then looked at the gem. What had happened? She couldn't remember, like waking from a dream the experience had already faded.

"Sally, hon," Bunnie asked cautiously, "You okay, sugar?"

The Princess nodded absently before walking over to Bunnie and placing the stone in her hand, making the Rabbit clasp her fingers over it.

"Lock this in a chest and take it to the vault." The Princess said sternly, "That gem is what The Emperor is after. I'm sure of it. There's something special about it... something... dangerous. We can't let him get his hands on it. Porker we need to know more about Project Chaos and that giant ring that took Sonic to that... special zone. Make it your top priority, the rest of you are on standby until further notice."

The four freedom fighters bowed their heads, placing there hands over their chests as they did. The three young men turned to leave, but Bunnie stayed behind.

"Your highness," The Rabbit said cautiously, "I've been thinkin', this... situation we're in. The one that cost us Ray and... and my legs. If the traitor were here in Knothole, why hasn't he or she ratted out our location? Why not just call for a bunch of 'Niks and have them burn the place to the ground?"

The Princess had returned to her throne and rubbed her eyes wearily, the thought hadn't even occurred to her until now. It would be easier to do just as Bunnie said, snitch the location of Knothole and send an army to destroy it but maybe for the traitor that wasn't enough, it'd be over to quick. Maybe they wanted to spread fear and paranoia, let the resistance destroy itself from the inside out but who would hate them enough to do that, besides the Emperor himself? If it were for rings then there'd earn much more money for big intel such as the location Knothole then smaller jobs like the set up that had taken place. Someone had a vendetta, whoever the traitor was... it was personal to them, and that thought made Sally's heartache even more.

"Sorry, Princess," Said Bunnie, "Maybe I'm over thinkin' things, just not being able to do much, guess I've got a lot of time to spare."

Sally smiled at the Rabbit and moved to kneel down in front of her, taking her friends hands in her own.

"Much as I hate to say it," Sally said gently, "You have a point. There's more to the traitor than we first realised, that makes them more dangerous but it also means they're more likely to slip up. We'll get them yet, now you need to take that gem to the vault."

Bunnie nodded and wheeled herself out of the chamber, nearly knocking over a female fox as she did. The near collison caused Bunnie to drop the stone.

"Yikes!" Cried the Fox,

"Sorry Fiona," Apologised The Rabbit as she tried to reach for the stone,

"No problem Bunnie, I'd be off in a daydream too if my boyfriend had given me a jewel like that."

The Fox had picked up the blue gem and was staring at it fondly, she then smiled and handed it back to Bunnie, "Wouldn't be surprised if Johnny proposed to you soon."

Bunnie grinned as she tucked the gem down her top, not wanting Fiona to realise just what the stone really was, not that she knew herself. Bunnie didn't think Fiona Fox was the traitor, not really but still she had to be more careful, she was under direct orders from the Princess.

"I doubt that sugar, can you picture Johnny and me settling down and raising a family?"

"Well you know the old saying about rabbits..." Teased the Fox lightly,

"That's racist!" Laughed Bunnie good naturedly, "You're lucky I'm in a hurry or I'd beat your ass."

"Any excuse to get your hands on my ass, eh?" Said Fiona seductively.

The two glared at each other before bursting out laughing, they shared a hug and then said their goodbyes, Fiona heading into the throne room and Bunnie heading towards the vault.

"You wanted to see me, Your Highness?"

* * *

><p>Brutus was not a happy man, he knew technically he was not a man at all but that didn't matter. His brainwaves were modelled on his human master's with some slight alterations, to prevent Brutus from ever wanting to overthrow his Emperor. That blasted Rabbit and accursed Hedgehog had not only escaped him, they'd retrieved <em>his<em> objective, they'd also managed to _HURT_ him. They. Had managed. To _hurt. Him._ Granted it had taken all of the Rabbit's little toys and a dip in a lava pool to do so but still, he'd never felt pain before. It was all his robotic mind could think about, he knew it was illogical but by The Master's hand he had to find and crush those rebels! That granted had always been his mission, but now it was personal and the insider... whoever they were, was obviously only going to relay small amounts of intel or feed the traitors with the fake information he provided. They'd tried to trace the signal but had found it had been bounced of off every waypoint from here to the Metropolis Zone. Still he knew were the rebels were going to strike next. If they knew about The Chaos Emeralds, they'd be hunting down the portal rings too. All Brutus had to do was lay in wait at the Spring Yard Zone and the Hedgehog and Rabbit would be his and if they sent someone else... well that was fine too. Brutus was after all charged with enforcing The Master's will and even though it had been many, many years since the order was given he's objective remained the same. "Enslave those who break the law and destroy all who resist." Brutus felt himself calm and his robotic eyes seemed to spark with anticipation. Still he needed a back up plan, just in case.

"GRIMER!" He yelled, "SNIVELY!"

Two malformed figures entered the room, one was tall and thing, with oily green skin and wide bug eyes, the creature drummed it's fingers eagerly. The second was short and bald with pale flesh and legs that waddled due to lack of length, his eyes skitted about nervously.

"Yes, Lord Brutus?" The pair said as one,

"I have something special I need you to work on and you may use our guest. The one we recently acquired who doesn't feel like talking."

"Yes, Lord Brutus!" Proclaimed Snively and Grimer as one.

Brutus couldn't help but laugh as he explained his plan. His revenge would be sweet.

* * *

><p>Porker scurried along the hallways, clutching papers that were haphazardly piled against his chest. His face pale and tense, he practically tripped over Antoine, who was sulking about outside Bunnie's hutch as if he'd just found out about his own impending demise and was trying to figure out how to break the news to her.<p>

"S-Sorry, Antoine!" Called The Pig as he carried on,

"_Wait, Porker!_" Cried Antoine, _"Is it true about Johnny and Bunnie?"_

But Porker didn't stop he didn't have time to indulge the Coyote's paranoia, not when he'd finally decoded enough of Project Chaos to know what it was really about, Sally had been right they couldn't let The Emperor get his hands on any more of those Gem Stones, he already had three according to the file and that meant there were only three left to find. Porker rushed with all his worth to tell the Princess, not realising that when he had the near miss with Antoine, he'd dropped one of his reports.

The coyote however had notice and picked up the paper, eager to exam what had Porker Lewis in such a rush. Finally he wouldn't be left out of the loop, he could find out at least partially what the other Freedom Fighters had refused to tell him from Porker's mistake and be able to prove his usefulness. All he had to do was take a quick peek and...

Suddenly the paper wasn't in his hands any more, instead it was in the hands of Rotor, who just looked at him and sighed with disappointment. He then turned around and rushed down the hall after Porker.

"Hey, Lewis!" The Walrus cried as he jogged after the pig, "You dropped one!"

_Blast!_ Thought Antoine, _I was so close too!_

* * *

><p>Still there'd be other chances, he'd make sure of it.<p>

Alarms blasted from all sides as four figures burst out of one of the Emperor's facilities, a hoard of stolen goods within their hands. Confiscated gold and jewels that would fetch a hefty price on the black market. Intel that could be ransomed back to the Emperor's forces if you were smart enough or sold to the rebels if you were really desperate for the money. Yep, it had been a stroke of good fortunate for the Babylon Rogues to run into that Weasel.

The three birds, jumped onto their boards and started them up while the weasel revved up his customised Ex-Gear Bike, _The Marvellous Queen._

"This is quite a score, Weasel." Jet admitted, a hint of admiration in his voice, "How'd you know about this?"

"Oh, I guess you could say, I have a _knack _for finding out about these things." The weasel replied as he raised his hat, a rather expensive looking stetson. He then pretended to shoot the three birds with his finger.

"That's not all I've got a knack for," He continued, a vicious tone in his voice, "I'm also quite good with Ex-Gear mechanics. That's why your boards won't work and I've alerted the Emperor's forces. They're on there way now."

"You leave without us!" Yelled The Swallow, a female named Wave, "You leave without us and you don't get any treasure!"

"That stuff? I've got something way more valuable on this. Ta!" The Weasel gloated as he held up a portable data-drive, then started up his bike and sped away, his laughter echoing.

Fang was feeling pleased with himself, he'd paid a lot of money for the information that lead him to the score on the data-drive, granted he'd immediately shot the guy and taken his money back but still money had exchanged hands and Fang hated parting with money but if the rumours circling the criminal underworld about something the Emperor was after named 'Project Chaos' were true, he could handle a slight black mark on his criminal reputation. Besides, he reasoned, it wouldn't hurt him that bad. No one even liked that bloody cat to begin with. The plan was simple, find whatever it was Project Chaos was before the resistance or the emperor could and sell it back to the highest bidder, then he'd retire to an island somewhere and be laughing for the rest of his life. The others may have a head start but Fang wasn't just the best hired gun, he was also the best treasure hunter.

The race was on and Fang intended to win it.

To Be Continued.


	4. Chaos: Act 1

CHAOS

Act I

"Once long ago, a powerful race of warriors had ruled much of Mobius, their power was so great that it was said they ruled from the heavens.

Many myths and legends were told about this culture, they had technology fuelled by magic, that their greatest warrior never aged or died but was constantly reborn. They were untouchable.

Then one day... they simply vanished, some say that an unholy fire swept across the globe destroying them for their greed, others that the entire civilisation was washed away in a storm unlike any before or since. Some believed that they grew weary of life on this tiny planet and left to seek greater challenges amongst the stars.

But they existed, this much is known to be true. The ruins of the Marble Zone are a part of what remains spread across the globe."

The small group of Freedom Fighters which Rotor had dubbed "The Inner Circle" listened intently as Porker Lewis Explained what he'd found. The Inner Circle consisted of Princess Sally Acorn; Heir Apparent to the throne, Bunnie Rabbit; a crippled freedom fighter, Porker Lewis, the finest mind the Freedom Fighters had and Sonic The Hedgehog, a young freedom fighter who was new to the cause. There was also Johnny Lightfoot but he had left on a recon mission and had yet to return. Sally had wanted to wait for him before Porker reported his findings, but the nervous pig had insisted that this was too important.

"Now Project Chaos mentions the Echidna civilisation several times. Particularly one piece of their culture a phrase found in many ruins that were believed to be places of worship, holy temples."

Sonic huffed. He knew this was important, he really did but... did the Pig have to be so boring...? The teen hedgehog tapped his foot impatiently but a glare from the Princess stopped him from making any snide remarks. He cast a sideways glance at Bunnie who returned it and smiled then rolled her eyes. Sonic grinned, clearly Bunnie felt the same; she was more a girl of action... which is why the loss of her legs was so much worse for her.

As if sensing their impatience Porker stuttered on.

"Yes, well ah... This passage reads "The Servers are the Seven Chaos, Chaos is Power" the middle section is untranslated but the final part is "The Controller is the one who unifies the Chaos." The files in Project Chaos refer to the Emperor discovering that "The Seven Chaos" are actually jewels, he calls them "Chaos Emeralds" filled with potentially unlimited power if brought together. He plans to use them to create an Empire that will last forever! He plans to become immortal!"

The air in the royal chamber suddenly became heavy, as if the weight of Porker Lewis words had weighted them down.

"So that jewel we found is a 'Chaos Emerald'," Mused the Princess, "We have to find the others before the Emperor's forces do. Porker how do we locate them?"

"They seem to be connected to the giant ring that Sonic discovered, the one that leads to that... 'Special' Zone." The Rings appear in a set pattern, one every few weeks each time in a different location. The next one is due to appear in the Spring Yard Zone in three days."

"Leave it to me!"Said Sonic, the eager young newcomer, "With Johnny off doing intel work, I guess I'm going this one alone."

"Sorry, Sonic..." Sally stated sternly, "But we always work in groups for anything more than intel. At least a pair."

"Sally hon," The wheelchair bound Rabbit spoke up, "Much as I hate to admit it, Sonic has to go alone. I'm not fit for field work any more and no offence Porker but I don't think this is a mission you'd be much help on. No technical do-dads to it."

"None taken," Replied the Pig, "You're probably right."

The Princess sighed, she didn't like this at all. But Johnny wasn't due back for another five days... and if the stolen intel was accurate, The Empire already had three of the jewels, they needed to even things out. She gazed long and hard at the small group assembled and thought about bringing someone else in... dismissing the thought almost instantly. They'd managed to keep suspicions down for the most part by sending people on smaller jobs stating that after the disaster at Star Light it was best to lay low for awhile but rumours of a traitor were beginning to circulate and they couldn't keep it under wraps for much longer.

"Alright, fine." Sally conceded wearily, "You'll go alone Sonic, but you are not to put your own life in danger. There'll be other chances and I don't want...any more lives lost for this cause."

Sonic nodded, The Spring Yard Zone was a day's travel from here, which meant he had a day spare to do some training. He could use "The Circuit" a facility that had been unnamed until Sonic gave it a title, where weapons training, combat training and general athletics were possible to practice. When not on a mission or with the Inner Circle, Sonic spent almost all of his time there, just running. Being underground was driving him stare-crazy and though he'd heard a lot of whacked out rumours about The Spring Yard Zone, he couldn't wait to get out there. After all... it really couldn't be as bad as all that.

"This is without doubt the worst Zone I've ever had the misfortune to step foot in." Snarled Fang to his informants. His informants being the people he was currently pointing his revolver at. "It's nothing but a bouncing death trap out there, how are you supposed to get through it?!"

Fang was many things, a con man, a marksman and a lucky man being a few, but he was not a patient man. Ever since his near miss in the Starlight Zone, Fang was more determined than ever to get rich and retire somewhere far out of the Emperor's reach. The Chaos Emeralds were worth a fortune to both the Emperor and the Freedom Fighters and Fang was determined to reach them first then sell them off to the highest bidder, he had a feeling that would be The Emperor, but supposedly The Acorn Royals lead the resistance so chances where they had cash to burn too. The next one was due to appear somewhere in this screwed up junkpile of a zone and he couldn't set foot in it.

A mongoose wearing shades raised his hand slowly, he was trying to seem cool by putting himself forward but Fang could see the sweat on his brow.

"No one goes _through _the Zone guy, it's way too unpredictable," He said, managing to keep his voice straight, "You wanna get to the other side you take the train. S'why the Zone's City is built on the outskirts."

Fang thought about blowing the little twerp's glasses straight off his head and his brains out the back, but that wouldn't get him anywhere and the Emperor's forces would be on his tail faster than he could say... well just about anything. The weasel holstered his gun and snarled, turning and leaving the bar he'd been in.

"Bunch a' no good punks." He muttered bitterly to himself, "Find my own Frane damned way through the Frane damned zone."

Fang looked to _The Marvellous Queen _and considered just riding over the springs on his Ex-Gear Bike, the only trouble was the moment he came to a full stop his precious bike would drop onto the Springs and catapult him straight into the air. So with a curse to the gods and a scowl on his face, the Weasel adjusted his hat and started hiking into the wasteland in the canyon below.

It had once been a thriving factory, during the Outland War. A factory so large it occupied almost the entire zone and the town had been built around it.

During the final months of the war, a scientist came to the Acorn Kingdom bringing with him an offer of mechanical soldiers able to turn the tide of the war. The Spring Yard Factory was built to produce these and after the war had been won they became the sentinels of The Acorn Kingdom.

That is until The Emperor took over and managed to turn them against the Royal Family. Over time The Emperor improved on the design and they became the Techniks the enforces of his will. With the new, designs the Spring Yard Factory became obsolete and the cogs, springs and mechanisms that filled it are all that remains. The Clock Work Zone was built in it's place becoming the cold steel and concrete heart of the Empire. The factory in "Scrap Brain" was smaller and more efficient. The factory in Spring Yard was left to rot and rot it did.

Well there was to much money riding on this for Fang to just sit back and let it walk away from him no matter how much the Zone had rotted, he could name his price with one of these Chaos Emeralds. For that kind of money he was willing to walk into The Nameless Zone itself. With that in mind, the weasel began the careful trek down into the hazardous ruins of the factory.

Much like Fang, Sonic was discovering that getting to the Spring Yard Zone was easy – travelling through it was not so much, it wasn't in his nature to go slow but the hazards were too great for him to reach a decent speed, floating springs that did... who knows what their original purpose was. Now they just launched the blue hedgehog in whichever direction a fact he'd discovered the hard way. Grumbling to himself as he shuffled along a narrow ledge, Sonic was beginning to regret his decision to come alone. Still this was his chance to prove himself to the Freedom Fighters, no matter how well they'd treated him he still felt like he was in Ray's shadow. That they were protecting him.

Sonic leapt onto a Crabmeat, a technik that looked like a giant oversized crab with an extendible razor sharp claw and smashed it to the ground, the design was an older one, with only one offensive but it was effective non-the-less. The claw could extend with uncanny speed and the blades on it were absurdly sharp. Sonic bounced off the bot cracking the weakened armour and reached out towards a pipe grabbing onto it to use his momentum to swing around back at the robot. The blue hedgehog's eyes widened as he heard the snap of the piping coming loose and found himself continuing to move through the air to a set of spikes protruding from the wall. The piping still in his hand sonic launched it towards the wall ahead of him where the force of the throw forced it to becoming embedded just below the spikes and then curled himself into a ball.

He had to time this exactly right.

Exiting out of his spherical form, Sonic managed to land his feet on the piping long enough to push himself above the spikes, then twisted in the air to press his feet against the wall and force himself off away from it followed by a hand plant on the floor and a kick to the Crabmeat's armour shattering it and freeing the citizen inside.

"Shouldn't have had to go through all that just to bust up a Crabmeat," Sonic uttered, he then turned to the former inhabitant of the machine – a cat. "Hey, you okay pal?"

"Traitor!" Roared the stranger, causing Sonic to step back in surprise.

"Wha...?"

"You destroyed a guardian of the Empire! You rebel scum!"

"Uh, listen buddy I freed you from that machine, weren't you being held against your will?!"

"The Emperor brought order and discipline to this world, I volunteered to power one of his machines. I live to serve the Emperor. _ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!" _The cat cried out fiercely as it marched on Sonic.

"You're nuts, pal!" The Hedgehog snapped, pointing at the ungrateful creature. "Before you go running back to your emperor get that fur-ball you call a brain checked out!"

The Hedgehog made his escape, confused. He thought everyone hated the way things were. That was definitely the case in Scrap Brain, it was polluted, crowded, over populated and completely suppressed. Literature, art and sports were all either censored to portrayed the Emperor in a better light or outright banned and even the smallest of offences carried the heaviest of punishment that is.. if the crime affected the Emperor's reign in anyway. Sonic was genuinely shocked to find anyone supported the mysterious dictator.

Getting his focus back to the task at hand, Sonic realised he had no idea where the Ring was supposed to appear in this zone or how long it would stay there and he seriously doubted he was going to just stumble on it like last time. This wasn't a ruin or a relic of an ancient civilisation, so it was probably _underground_. The question was how to get underground?

_All hail the emperor!_

The cat's voice echoed through Sonic's head, he shuddered, frowning.

"Disturbing isn't it, Hedgehog?" "A metallic voice boomed, "To find out that everything you believe in is false."

The gold armoured form of Brutus dropped down from the sky.

Sonic remembered Brutus from Marble Zone; he was a unique member of the Emperor's robotic enforcers known as the Troopers made from Infitinitium, (Which incidentally, Sonic considered the stupidest name for anything. Ever.) But the last time the blue hedgehog saw him he was taking a dip in a lava-bath. Apparently Infinitium really was indestructible.

"That regular, loyal citizens, _like_ being oppressed. That you are the villain." Brutus continued as he dropped down from his hover platform, "And if people are happy with the regime and you and your allies are going around trying to overthrow it...wouldn't that make you a terrorist?"

Sonic faked a yawn and shrugged.

"One nutjob does not speak for the population, Bruno." Sonic retorted, pointing accusingly at the robot, "If your creator, the almighty Emperor is so wonderful why does no one know a lick about him? When I was a kid, I prayed every night that the Emperor wouldn't come and take me away just because _I had no where to live. _Because the only laws that exist are ones that protect the so called Emperor. Anything else is fair game, crime, murder, anything that causes pain. He's only happy when his people suffer!"

Brutus and Sonic started circling each other.

"You had a choice, rodent." The Robot replied, "You could have worked for the Emperor building his armies, instead you chose to steal from his city. Breath his air and give nothing back in return."

"You want something in return?" Sonic asked rhetorically as he charged the indestructible Trooper, leaping at him and planting both feet squarely on his chest plate.

"How about _this?!_" Sonic finished, pushing away from the creature. He knew he couldn't break the machine but maybe he could disable it long enough for him to get away.

Brutus staggered backwards, though only a step or two and promptly started firing his blaster at the blue blur. Sonic dodged the blasts with ease, using his uncanny speed to run up and along a wall, he then kicked himself off of the surface, curling into a ball, spinning through the air.

Brutus knocked the Hedgehog away with a simple backhand, Sonic felt himself hit a wall but was a little surprised (and in a lot of pain) when he didn't stop before finally hitting a rather more solid wall and crumpling to the ground.

"Ow." The blue hedgehog muttered, "Maybe that wasn't one of best ideas."

As he got to his feet Sonic realised that the chamber was not part of the modern Zone, it was a relic made of stone, with familiar markings etched into the wall.

There was no giant ring to take him to that.._ Special_ Zone however and the ceiling of the Chamber had been broken through, a rope dangling from the hole above.

"The Emerald Chamber!" Declared Brutus loudly, "But where is the Transport Ring?"

The Gold Trooper pointed his pistol at Sonic, "So you were just stalling, while one of your allies broke in and made off with The Emperor's emerald."

"Wasn't us..." Sonic replied softly, "Someone else nabbed it while we were fighting."

The robot snarled as best a robot can and took fire at Sonic. The hedgehog easily avoided the energy blasts and ran off; no Chaos Emerald meant there was no further point in being here.

Fang had stumbled across the portal ring purely by accident when the device he'd cobbled together to track Chaos Energy emissions had gone insane, the Weasel knew he'd found the portal to the Chaos Emerald's home dimension. There had been raised voices on the other side of the wall, so Fang didn't wait for anyone to find him. He simply jumped in, nabbed the Emerald and found himself at the Zone's edge.

Things were looking up, the Weasel had one Chaos Emerald which alone was worth a fortune but if he had the others as well he could name his price.

As he hopped onto his Ex-Bike, Fang saw a unique Teknik design fly over head, it looked like a new model, silver with red and black striped shoulder plating, gauntlets and boots. His first instinct was to blast it as owning Ex-Gear was illegal however the 'bot completely ignored him, heading in the direction of The Green Hill Zone. It was only then that Fang saw the Teknik drop-ship following it.

The Mercenary scoffed lightly as he revved up the Bike. Whoever was in that lifeless zone, they wouldn't know what hit them.

To be continued.

Okay, I'm not very happy with this chapter. I kept putting it off because it was a chapter I HAD to write but not one I wanted to, so I think the quality suffers a little because of that. It's been sitting here half finished for months before I thought screw it, just get it done. The next chapter is one I've been looking forward to writing and I hope you all enjoy reading it. Let me know what you all think so far.


End file.
